My Little Pony (film)
| gross = $ million }}My Little Pony (also known as My Little Pony: The Movie) is a 2016 animated musical fantasy film based on the 2010 re-launch of the My Little Pony franchise by Hasbro. It is the twenty-fourth film in the Hasbro Cinematic Universe. The film was directed by Jayson Thiessen and based on a story and screenplay co-written by Meghan McCarthy, both Friendship Is Magic veterans. The film features the voices of Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Peña, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba and Zoe Saldana as new characters. The film was produced by Hasbro Studios and DHX Media, using traditional animation created with Toon Boom Harmony. My Little Pony premiered in New York City May 24, 2016, and was released on June 3, 2016 in the United States and Canada through Lionsgate. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $ million against a $6.5 million budget. Plot Cast Production Release On August 7, 2015, Lionsgate announced that they would distribute and market the film worldwide except in China. The film was showcased at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on May 10 along with eight other Lionsgate features to help sell the film to international distributors. My Little Pony premiered in New York City on May 22, 2016, and was released in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2016, and the United States on June 3, 2016. Theatrically, the film was accompanied by a 5-minute animated short from Hasbro Studios web series Hanazuki: Full of Treasures. Marketing :Main article: My Little Pony (2010 toyline) Home media My Little Pony was released on Digital HD on September 6, 2017 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD on September 20, 2016. The film debuted in first place on the overall home video sales chart and in second place on the Blu-ray sales chart for the week ending on September 25, 2017. Its special features include a deleted scene, a music video for the song "I'm the Friend You Need", three featurettes starring the Mane Six, an exclusive Equestria Girls animated short, and the Hanazuki: Full of Treasures short bundled with the film's theatrical release. Reception Box office My Little Pony grossed $ million in the United States and Canada and $ million in other territories for a worldwide total of $ million, against its production budget of $6.5 million. In the United States and Canada, the film was expected to gross between $10 million and $17 million from 2,528 theaters in its opening weekend. It received a one-week special run across 331 IMAX and IMAX 3D theaters from June 2 up to June 9. The film made $2 million from Thursday night previews which began at 5 p.m., compared to the first film's $4.6 million. On its opening day it earned $12.5 million (including previews), with $4.4 million (36%) coming from 3D showings. In its opening weekend, it grossed $35.3 million, finishing first at the box office. Amid Amidi of Cartoon Brew stated that, any reasonable return from the film would be seen as a positive by Hasbro because it is tied to the toy line. Outside North America, the film was released in about 30 overseas IMAX markets, beginning Wednesday, June 1, with additional markets throughout the summer, including China on July 2. It opened across 40 markets the same weekend as its U.S. release, including big markets like the United Kingdom, Mexico and Russia, which is about 39% of its total international marketplace, and was projected to make around $36 million. It ended up grossing $33 million, which is down 11% when compared to the first film's same suite of markets, and had No. 1 debuts in 21 markets out of the 40. The top openings were in China ($26.1 million), the UK ($5.1 million), Russia ($4.8 million) and Mexico ($4.5 million). In the United Kingdom, it came in second place – behind Warcraft – with a £3.49 million ($5 million) seven-day opening from 513 theatres. Critical response On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 48% based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Charming and sweet, My Little Pony: The Movie will please its dedicated fanbase, even if it's unlikely to encourage non-devotees to gallop along for the ride." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Truthfully, this film feels like four episodes of a cartoon strung together, and there are times, especially during some of the latter musical numbers, where it truly drags." She also remarked on the film's animation, saying it "embraces the flat, colorful, Saturday-morning cartoon look and feel". Christy Lenore of RogerEbert.com gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, criticizing the narrative as being "all over the place" and having "a multitude of underdeveloped, crammed-in characters", while commending the film for retaining the Friendship Is Magic television series cast and staff. Josh Terry of Deseret News criticized the film, saying parents should "put their money into some new My Little Pony toys" rather than go see the movie. Gwen Ihnat of The A.V. Club gave the film a "C" grade, favoring the improved animation over the television series, but adding "you have to wonder to what use it's being put". Elizabeth Weitzman of TheWrap wrote positively of the film, saying, "Like its television predecessor, is all dressed up in bubbles and cupcakes and rainbows. But it's so jam-packed with rousing girl power, it passes the Bechdel Test with (literally) flying colors." Amy Nicholson of Variety called the film "at once clichéd and exceptional", praising its female characters and calling the story "emotionally wise" Accolades References Category:Lions Gate Entertainment films Category:My Little Pony Category:2016 films Category:2016 animated films Category:DHX Media films Category:Canadian films Category:Canadian animated films Category:Films directed by Jayson Thiessen Category:Hasbro Cinematic Universe films